South Florida Sun-Sentinel Palm Beach (Sunday)
Mason says trash-talking Gator escalated bench-clearing skirmish
NASHVILLE, TENN. – The Gators needed a spark. Instead they ignited a powder keg.
Down 21-10 and looking sluggish on offense, receiver Freddie Swain took a Vanderbilt punt up the far sideline. Linebacker James Houston searched for a victim in black and gold to block.
He found one in defensive lineman Dare Odeyingbo. Houston sped into his path and cross-checked Odeyingbo, who immediately fell to the ground writhing in pain.
Dayo Odeyingbo, Dare’s younger brother and also a defensive lineman for the Commodores, rushed from the Vandy sideline to confront Houston. A few verbal jabs between the two only served as the appetizer for what came next.
Both team benches cleared onto the field and traded taunts.
Florida head coach Dan Mullen started arguing with the referees over the calls as defensive coordinator Todd Grantham exchanged obscenities with Vanderbilt head coach Derek Mason.
“We’re not going to get into that publicly at all,” Mullen said. “Derek’s a great, really close friend of mine. And I think, on our sideline we’ve got to make sure we’re cleaner in that situation and he probably thinks the same thing.”
Mason said his involvement in the ordeal got heated when words were directed his way from the Florida bench.
“Their player from the sideline said something, and he directed it at me,” Mason said. “I say something back, and Dan gets mad.”
Referees issued a targeting call on Houston and unsportsmanlike penalties to every player on both sides.
Linebacker Vosean Joseph — who earned SEC Defensive Player of the Week honors after his 14-tackle, 2-sack performance against LSU — already had one such penalty to his name before the scuffle and was ejected along with Houston.
Linebacker David Reese said the altercation had a positive effect on a Florida sideline he criticized as being listless.
“I feel like [Houston] had a huge impact on the game and the flow of it,” he said. “Going into the stadium, it was kind of dead and things weren’t going right.”
Davo Odeyingbo re-entered the game on the ensuing Gators drive after being checked out by team athletic trainers.
The ejections forced redshirt junior Rayshad Jackson into action just before halftime. He finished the game with just three tackles, but Reese saw a lot of positives in his play.
“He did a great job of coming in,” Reese said. “Also [linebacker Kylan Johnson] did a great job, especially in pass coverage. We made stops and got off the field in the second half.”
Florida allowed just six points to Vanderbilt after the incident.
Rushing milestone: The Gators had not registered a 100-yard rusher through the first six games of the season coming into Saturday ’s matchup. They posted two such performances against the Commodores.
Jordan Scarlett (113) and Lamical Perine (121) combined for 234 rushing yards on 39 combined attempts.
Freshman Dameon Pierce added another 40 yards on 10 attempts.
Florida finished the game with a season-high 292 yards on the ground.